Trip the Light Fantastic
by Paranoid Seat
Summary: The Doctor gives Rose a short lesson in poetry, vocabulary and turn of phrase with some dancing thrown in for good measure. Hints of TenRose.


A/N: I was curious as to what "to trip the light fantastic" meant, so I looked it up. The definition and origin of the phrase inspired this story.

Disclaimer: Things that aren't mine include the Doctor, Rose and anything Doctor Who related (property of the BBC), _L'Allegro_ (John Milton) and _The Sidewalks of New York _(Charles B Lawler).

**Trip the Light Fantastic**

"Something bothering you, Rose?"

She was frowning, sitting on the little couch with a book held in her lap. It was small and paperback; probably one of those boringly predictable novels she was always reading. She looked quite sweet today, in a pink t-shirt and denim dungarees. She looked a bit like a child's doll, in the same way that Sarah Jane used to sometimes look like Andy Pandy.

"Yeah."

"Well?"

Rose looked up, the frown wrinkling her nose most adorably.

"What does 'trip the light fantastic' mean?"

The Doctor grinned, throwing a switch suddenly and hopping away from the console. "Ah, good old Milton." At Rose's questioning look he expanded. "John Milton. _L'Allegro_. 1645." From the console - prompted by the switch he had flipped - a merry tune started up, perfect for dancing to. "_Haste thee, Nymph, and bring with thee, Jest, and youthful Jollity,_" he began, nimbly striding over to her and holding out his hand with only a slight air of gleeful impatience. Rose began smiling, and her mirthful eyes told him that she thought he was ridiculous but at least he was great fun. She reached up and took his hand, letting him pull her off the seat. Her book fell to the floor, forgotten.

He pulled her towards him, grabbing her other hand as he did so and beginning a light-footed dance that required they keep their wits about them if they did not want to trip. He grinned at her as he continued to recite from memory, and she grinned back.

"_Quips and cranks and wanton wiles, Nods and becks and wreathed smiles,_" he told her, seeing in her widening smile the memory of a thousand quips. "_Such as hang on Hebe's cheek, And love to live in dimple sleek,_" Here he let go of her left hand and twirled her round. He caught her quite suddenly, facing away from him, holding her close to him with the hand he still held, both their right arms across her stomach. He brought his left hand up to stroke the backs of his fingers across her cheek and she closed her eyes at the touch, but he whirled her out again, twirling her enough times that she started giggling as he continued his recital. "_Sport that wrinkled Care derides, And Laughter holding both his sides._" He brought her to a giddy stop, and resumed the previous hop-skipping of the dance. She tried to follow him, still giggling as she attempted to match his footsteps, fighting the dizziness. It probably didn't help that the dance was completely made up.

He reached the important line, and made sure to catch her eye and make sure she was paying attention to the words as they danced, feet now skipping in time as she caught up the rhythm. "_Come, and trip it, as you go, On the light fantastic toe,_" He saw the recognition in her eyes at that; he grinned at her and she grinned back. They span round a couple more times, dancing between the support struts, and having made their way around the entire console over the duration of the verse, they returned to the little couch. "_And in thy right hand lead with thee, The mountain-nymph, sweet Liberty._" He span her round once more by her right hand, before bringing her to a halt and kissing the back of her hand in a most gentlemanly fashion, he thought. He then took a step forward, still holding her hand, causing her to take a step backwards as if it was part of the dance. Her legs hit the couch just inches behind her and she sat down suddenly.

The Doctor returned to the console and flipped the switch again, shutting off the music. Glancing back at Rose, he smiled to see she was giggling silently. He turned around and leant against the console, hands in the pockets of his coat, watching her. She was sat forward, leaning on her knees and trying to get her breath back while at the same time helpless with inaudible, shoulder-shaking giggles. After a few moments she recovered, still grinning to herself, and sat back, looking up to find the Doctor smiling at her.

"You okay?" he asked amusedly, one foot crossed in front of the other, his shoe perpendicular to the floor and resting on its toe.

She nodded, giving him the 'ridiculous but fun' look again.

"So what does it mean?" she asked.

"Dancing, Rose, it's about dancing!" he exclaimed, surprised that she hadn't caught on. "To 'trip' is to dance, and 'fantastic' means something extravagant and fancy, or capricious." She wrinkled her nose at him. "Impulsive!" he clarified. Honestly, what did they teach them in schools these days? It used to be the ignorance of the fourth and fifth dimensions, now it was vocabulary neglect! "But ultimately, something fun. Impulsive dancing, needing nothing more than whim and a willing partner." He winked at her and, without looking, flicked another switch behind him.

Cheerful celtic music suffused the air and the Doctor sprang forward, pulling Rose to her feet again. She allowed herself to be caught up for the second time, looking a bit tired but not unwilling to dance once more. He swung her round in a lively, ceilidh-like quickstep, singing with the music.

"_East Side, West Side, all around the town,_

_The kids sang 'Ring Around Rosie', 'London Bridge is Falling Down'._

_Boys and girls together, me and Mamie O'Rourke,_

_Tripped the light fantastic on the sidewalks of New York._"

Their energetic spinning staggered to a dizzy halt. Rose fell into his arms, causing him to fall against the console, which, luckily, was very close by. They leaned against it, both laughing and breathless. The Doctor switched the music off with one hand flung randomly behind him. He should've been glad they didn't end up on Telos for all the effort he put into actually hitting the right switch, but it seemed that the TARDIS didn't feel like bumping into Cybermen today, because the switch he sought was conveniently right under his fingertips when he reached for it.

Rose looked up at him, smiling widely, bits of her blonde hair dishevelled and falling across her face. He grinned down at her, ignoring the vector plotter digging him in the spine, and swept the strands away with one hand. She smiled a bit wider, almost leaning into his touch, before pushing herself up from the console and finding her feet.

"Fun?" the Doctor enquired, similarly regaining his balance without the support of the console. Rose nodded, giving him a fond smile over her shoulder as she moved back to the little couch and retrieved her book from where it had fallen. "Learn something new?"

"Always do, Doctor," she replied, her eyes sparkling at him above the pages.

"Good." He turned back to the console, hands reaching automatically for buttons and levers and dials. He felt like taking a trip to Scotland, maybe they'd visit Queen Vic in Balmoral. He even had an appropriate name chosen; monarchs didn't like to have nameless persons about, he'd found. 'John Smith', his usual alias, wasn't a very Scottish name, so he had chosen the name of a former companion instead. He'd even get to try out his Scottish accent again. He was looking forward to this trip.

"Nice to see that you dance now," Rose said. The Doctor spun round, one hand resting on the dimensional stabiliser, and saw that Rose was grinning as she hid behind her book.

He grinned back. That kind of comment might have deserved a sarcastic retort before, but not now.

"New man, new talents," he replied, and pulled the lever, briefly wondering if he was any good at playing the recorder this time around. "Next stop: Balmoral, 1879. That alright with you?"

Rose looked up over her book as the time rotor rose and fell, and the Doctor was thrilled to see that she looked genuinely interested. "Scotland?"

"Aye, how about it?" His accent had aged well over the last hundred or so years. He brushed the dust off it and hoped his 'R's wouldn't roll too much this time. "I'll take you to meet Queen Victoria." Ah, softly Scottish. He liked it. Quite like his temporary namesake, really. "We'll have a right ball."

Clearly amused by his new accent, Rose beamed up at him. "And we'll trip the light fantastic, will we Doctor?"

He grinned back at her. "Oh, definitely."


End file.
